An Odd Mission
by Pantharya
Summary: Demyx gets sent on a mission he wasn't quite expecting - not that he was expecting anything at all. In a departure from his normal routine, Demyx's skill will be put to the test.
1. Chapter 1 Awakenings

~ Kingdom Hearts ~

An Odd Mission – Chapter One

Demyx started the day the same way he did every other. That is, he awoke and promptly found that his ever present need to consume something hot and buttery was, indeed, still ever present. Today, this 'something hot and buttery' took the form of waffles, or perhaps pancakes. He was even about to settle for thoughts of French Toast when Demyx was greeted with the faint realisation that something wasn't quite right in his room within The Castle That Never Was. As Demyx yawned loudly he realised just what this disturbance in was. He had gone to bed fully clothed. Again.

Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Demyx swung himself out of bed and drifted across the room to stare out the massive window. It had a direct view of the makeshift-moon-slash-Kingdom-Hearts hovering eternally above the castle. It was kind of pretty, really, in the otherwise empty night sky. The fact that every other Organization member's bedroom also had one of these giant windows directly facing the pseudo-moon seemed a tad obsessive to Demyx - but hey, that was Xemnas for you. Obsessive was the _nice _way to put it.

Barely suppressing another yawn, Demyx sleepily glanced over his shoulder at the mirror hanging on his wall. He seemed, unsurprisingly, exactly the same as he had been when he'd gone to sleep. Tall thin stature; blond hair in a lengthy unkempt almost-mullet; long sleek Organization robes that had that distinct _Matrix _feel to them ... yeah, that seemed about right. Just the same as yesterday.

Demyx lazily cast his eyes around the room as he crawled through the lengthy moments that existed between waking up and _actually_ being awake_. _His room was just the way it had been the night before as well– if you could still make the day/night distinction in a sky that never changed. The walls and ceiling still all had that greyish-whitish tinge, and those elaborately designed patterns still covered the visible sides of every piece of furniture. The walls in particular were still riddled with their haphazard sections of very finely organised cords, wires, blinking lights and air vents. To Demyx's past dismay, none of these had provided an explosion or loud beep of _any _kind whatsoever when repeatedly poked or kicked. Apparently the castle was built of something more solid than Demyx's boot. Either that or they were completely fake altogether. In either eventuality, the room wasn't utterly unpleasing to the eye, yet it couldn't quite be called interesting either. It gave the distinct impression that anything notable in the room could be seen within a single glance; an impression Demyx assumed was specifically tailored to motivate the nobodies to spend more time out doing missions than lazing around the castle. Not that it worked on Demyx, oh no, he was far too smart for that.

Once Demyx gathered that he was more awake than asleep he assumed it was safe to attempt his stealthy morning walk to the kitchen. He had discovered through experience that the very wisest way to achieve this was to be awake enough to avoid the distinct members of Organization XIII who were most likely to react negatively when approached during their pre-conscious stumble to find coffee – which was mostof them_. _One could only be set on fire so many times before avoiding people altogether at this hour seemed the best option.

Yet, as Demyx began the valiant journey through the land of his doorway he noticed something else unusual about his room – a large pink note was stuck on his door. He dismissed it as some 'highly important' mission that could clearly wait till AFTER waffles before noting with far more interest there was a smaller black note just to left of it. The black ones were usually from Zexion. He plucked it off happily and read it as he mindlessly navigated the castle corridors – the threat of sleepy Axels already forgotten.

_Demyx_

_I want to wish you good luck for your task today. It may seem daunting, but I have full confidence in your abilities. The Emperor's Gorge is completely uninhabited, precisely why it was chosen for the task at hand, so don't hold back. Once you retrieve the item at the centre of the gorge you can safely return without being disqualified. Fortitudo Demyx. _

_-Zexion_

...Well, it _seemed_ like a mission notice. Only, you know, without any use of the words "mission" and "you are on a". Demyx was baffled as to where the mission parameters usually outlined at the start could have fled to. They were usually quite useful things, saying things like which _world _in the entire _universe_ it was on for a start.

Demyx scoured the note again, even checking the back in vain. He knew of an 'Emperor's Gorge' over in The Land of Dragons, but usually these notes were far less of a guessing game and far more of a "go here, do this, don't die" deal. Though he supposed Zexion had indeed been known to leave brain teasers and what not on Demyx's door before today - crosswords and word finds and the like. Not that Demyx was particularly good at these at all, but he definitely appreciated the thought. He had a theory that he was in fact the ONLY member to get such personal notes from Zexion on their doors first thing in the morning. He had even snuck around very carefully to check. Perhaps this was Zexion's new way of giving Demyx a mental challenge? A mission without any words that actually said it was a mission? It seemed just as likely as any other explanation competing in his mind, and as this was the only one that did not include zombies or the apocalypse, he assumed it was the most likely.

Upon a third read through of the mysterious note, Demyx became very aware that he had no clue whatsoever as to what a 'fortitudo' was - and he had little desire to find out. The last time he had looked up what seemed to be a cheerfully nonsense word he had found to his dismay that Gazimbjo was actually a rather fun and engaging video game instead of the obscure frog-horse-monkey amalgamation Demyx had been hoping for. He would just assume Zexion had made the word up and it was some form of cheeseburger. There, problem solved.

In his surely admirable diligence, Demyx would normally have been very tempted to find Roxas and dump the mission on him instead - but since Zexion had requested it, Demyx would freely take the extra effort. Unlike most of the other members, Demyx actually LIKED Zexion. The guy had a sense of fun. Demyx could freely recall any number of times Zexion had put down one of those thick musty tomes to talk to him, or made the effort to say hi to him in passing, or even specifically sought him out before mission to give him pointers and advice. There was even that one time they had played Twister. All in all, Zexion _acknowledged_ Demyx's existence - or non-existence, or whatever it was. The guy was damn cool. Demyx made a mental note to get the guy some kind of thank you gift next time he had the chance. Perhaps some intimidatingly old book. Or a list of words he could use instead of making up new ones.

Either way, Demyx pocketed the note and - after an extended period of joyfully devouring anything and everything sugar coated he could find in the kitchen- stepped through his newly summoned portal of darkness to complete his mission for the day. He wasn't quite sure what to expect, but to be fair, he never did, and that was most of the fun. He made an extra mental note to thank Zexion once he returned, just in case he lost the first one, which was only too likely knowing himself. Perhaps instead of a book he should make him waffles- that'd at least give him an excuse to open the new bottle of syrup. Not that he needed an excuse as such, but if more than one person had eaten it Saïx couldn't yell at _only_ him when it disappeared in half a day. Oh yes, today was going to work out quite well indeed.

* * *

The distinctly familiar 'whooshing' echoed throughout the room as the five other senior members of the Organization materialized. One by one they appeared from their streams of darkness, already sitting on their ridiculously tall thrones of various heights. Xemnas was, of course, above them all, as his throne was the most ridiculously tall of them all. The manner in which he sat exuded an air utterly void of all emotion. Not even "quaintly content" or "mildly average" escaped the onslaught. It was simply _nothing_.

None of the other senior members ever exuded this level of extreme non-emotion. Xigbar was always seen prancing around excitedly, and Vexen was definitely guilty of finding his experiments _interesting_, as fiendish as that clearly was_. _No,Xemnas was quite alone in his uncomfortable impression of sheer emptiness. He was the perfect epitome of what it was to be a nobody – and this example would have worked rather well if the other twelve didn't constantly act to the contrary.

Once the expected six out of the thirteen available seats had been filled, Xemnas spoke.

"The preparations are now complete." He did not phrase it as a question, but the expectation of a confirmation was clear. In response, the other five members all gave a solemn nod.

"Then let it begin." With this, all six thrones were swiftly emptied as the individual members streamed off to their place of choice to watch their plans unfold. It had been a short meeting by most standards, but hey, when you could teleport and literally had the entire universe at your disposal, there wasn't exactly any need to make the most of these numerous gatherings. The important thing was that the pieces were now in place and the plan was in motion. All there was left to do was watch and wait. Interfering was against the rules, after all.


	2. Chapter 2 It Begins

THERE ARE THINGS I FORGOT TO SAY BEFORE!

First, a shoutout to the wonderful becoafamu! For she is all kinds of awesome and has the best fanfics ever = 3 The note thing was an idea taken from one of her stories. Which one? Read them ALL and find out =D Mwahaha!

Secondly! I don't remember = D But if I remember by next chapter it will be in that intro instead. Great memory huh? Clearly thinkig on the spot is not my thing. Anyway, Enjoy! =D

Ps, it was Demyx's Bad Day

* * *

**Chapter Two - It Begins**

Demyx ventured down the decidedly uninvitingly dark connection between worlds, letting his mind drift as he walked. There was something unique about Demyx that set him apart from the rest of the Organization. That was, until one realised that they were all carrying degrees of crazy and shared no real unifying factor. In spite of this, Demyx liked to think of himself as part of the Fun half of the Organization, as opposed to the boring/scary half. While following this train of thought, Demyx guessed this was probably as good a time as any to mentally list the other members of the Organization for some odd categorical reason. It was either that or play "I Spy", and since the only answer at the moment as "darkness" he didn't think that was going to be an awfully engaging past time. Mentally describing people it was. This way he could honestly tell Zexion that he had indeed been practicing his vocabulary like he had suggested.  
Taking longer strides just for the hell of it, Demyx picked his thoughts back up where he had left off. Two categories; The Fun side and the Avoid Them If Possible side. Heading the fun category was Zexion, who he had mentally described just a few minutes ago. He judged that it wasn't against the rules of this new activity to just copy and paste his previous answers, and so he did just that.

Following Zexion in the "Fun" category was Xigbar, another of the laid back nobodies - perhaps even more so than Zexion. Whereas Zexion would save the fun till _after _the missions he orchestrated with uh ... orchestrated brilliance, Xigbar was more than willing to just let the mission handle itself and wander off shooting things. The Freeshooter was quite fun overall, and on top of that Demyx couldn't help but think he had really cool hair. It was black streaked with grey and hung in an impressively long ponytail down his back. Despite the prominent grey and the rather grizzly scars crossing his face, Xigbar was just as active and limber as he looked- and it was Demyx's distinct opinion that he looked like a pirate. Possibly because of that eye patch. On the other hand... eye path rhymed with cross hatch. Cross hatch wasn't in Demyx's every day vocabulary, so that counted too.

Next on the list was Axel. You simply couldn't meet Axel and not remember the guy. He had flaming red hair and little black triangles tattooed just under his eyes. He also had a tendency to _light things on fire_. He was definitely on the fun list, however, as Axel was very laid back and spent a lot of time throwing the odd joke around. You know, when he wasn't lighting even more things on fire. Demyx had been seeing less of Axel now that he was spending more and more of his free time alone with Roxas, but Demyx definitely wasn't complaining. His Organization robes were lasting _much _longer this way.

Speaking of Roxas, he was on this list as well. He was quite a neat kid really. When with people he liked anyway, that was when Roxas was cheerful and laughed a lot. Otherwise he just had a tendency to seem depressingly intelligent and angry. The kid also ate more ice cream than even _Demyx _thought he could consume, and THAT was saying something. Roxas did have a certain weird streak though. Demyx had often peeked around corners to spot Roxas jumping down corridors aimlessly or having long engrossing transactions with that one moogle that had taken up residence in the Grey Room (a name that Demyx still found baffling considering the _entire _castle was grey). Weird or not, Roxas got extra points for being rather easy to dump missions on so Demyx could run off and have fun instead.

Last on the fun side was Luxord. The guy was smart, sophisticated and had a slight British tinge to his accent that only made his distinctive light coloured beard and short hair seem all the more like he was some kind of nobleman gambler. To top it all off, the guy loved to play all manner of games - from strategic battles to card games and everything in-between. To be quite frank, Luxord made everything into some kind of entertainment. What was even better in Demyx's opinion, was that he didn't set people on fire.

There was also Lexaeus. Demyx didn't know an awful lot about the guy, on the count of him not talking overly much, but he didn't seem too bad. He spent a lot of time with Zexion, so he got points by association at least.

Yet, for all the Fun members of the Organization there were the more intimidating ones of the 'scary' list that Demyx found rather uncomfortable to be around. The was Vexen, the mad scientist that treated everything around him like an experiment, muttering to himself and laughing manically whenever he thought no-one was listening. The exact mechanics of 'no-one listening' baffled Demyx however, as Vexen was known to burst out into this laughter part way through breakfast or while walking down crowded hallways. He also lost points for always looking really angry. Demyx had an inkling that this anger was only present when Demyx was around though, and so Vexen lost even more points. First member of the Scary list and they were already at negative seven cool points. Things weren't looking too good for the psycho team.

Next was Xaldin, and Demyx didn't really have a lot to say about this guy either. He was tall, wide-shouldered and intimidating. He had those really long dreadlocks that somehow made him look even tougher than his boulder-like physique suggested. He also liked to hurt people, but not in stabby cutty manner that one could see coming. Xaldin specialised in mental manipulation, and he very much enjoyed it when he managed to work someone into feeling a particularly intense emotion. Of course, this made Demyx just plain avoid the guy every chance he got. Even a casual offering of cereal could be a potential threat. Compared with Vexen's surprise laughing bursts, Demyx didn't think it looked to odd when he quickly left the room whenever Xaldin looked in his general direction.

In the similar vein of those who liked to hurt people was Larxene, the Savage Nymph. The name said it all really. While she was one of those supposedly rare female types and laughed a lot, she was also _really _scary. Her method of hurting people was the physical kind, and she was FAST, so she could do this quicker than one could provoke it. The thing that made Larxene just that much scarier than the others was the sheer amount of fun she had in hurting people. She would stab, and then she would smile. She would stab again, and she would giggle. Another stab, and she was laughing. This would continue until she was practically ripping something to shreds in a manic frenzy of shrieking cackles. When compared to someone like Zexion who _read books _for fun, Larxene was just plain crazy. She was next to Xaldin on the avoid-as-much-as-possible portion of the scary list.

One of Larxene's close contacts was Marluxia. Now this guy, he was the epitome of being up one's self. He was proud and ambitious, and Demyx was pretty sure all parts of his character could be described in the fact that he had long, flowing, pink hair. Lingering any further would just seem unfair, as they scary side was already at negative thirty five cool points and still had two members to go.

Second to last was Saïx. Saïx could aptly be described as power hungry and obsessive, almost to the point of lunacy, yet somehow this had been judged as a _good _quality and Saïx had quickly risen to the second highest position in the Organization. Typical of this, he spent most of his time doing the whole oh-I-have-no-heart-and-must-speak-monotonously act, which was odd considering just how much he wanted all that power that he so practically already had. Demyx put it down to the blue haired nobody spending far too much time with Xemnas. Or perhaps it was that curious 'x' shaped scar right in the middle of his face – the one he most especially did not like being reminded of, Demyx had found out the hard way.

Worst of all on the scary team was Xemnas, who not only spent little time socialising outside meetings, but spent every chance he did get repeatedly droning on about how no, they did not have hearts and they should all stop acting like they had emotions. Demyx himself thought this would be far more convincing if Xemnas didn't feel required to do this at every _single_ meeting. You'd think if it was true they wouldn't need a constant reminder every time someone broke out the cards or forgot to not laugh. Not that Demyx would ever voice such thoughts anywhere near him though - Xemnas was far too scary for that. Demyx could sum it up simply with the word _lightsabers._ He actually wasn't sure if that was one word or two, but when he started mentally filtering the grammar of his own thoughts he would freely admit he was a Vexen clone in disguise.

As the dark and dreary passage-way-of-sorts slid past slowly, Demyx spent the last few minutes of his journey amusing himself by imitating the Superior on a mission. Xemnas would be full of stately self control as he walked at a precisely even pace through a corridor of darkness. Next would come the nonchalantly strolling into some unsuspecting world, stabbing a few unsuspecting people, walking back calmly without a single smile. On second thought, Demyx thought this wasn't so amusing after all. Having no heart didn't 'require' being boring as a floorboard. It was more of a constant craving than anything else. You wanted that something so very, very badly, but you didn't notice it too much if you kept your mind firmly occupied with other things. Things like books or card games or waffles, as every other member seemed to have figured out by now sans Xemnas himself. There was still shock, there was still anger and there was still surprise – just, you know, it felt a little empty unless you really put your heart into it. Non-literally of course.

Thus in stark contrast to his Xemnas flavoured thoughts, Demyx had as much fun as could possibly be had while uneventfully walking. He sleuthed down the corridors of darkness like some kind of shadow while sending small waves of water cascading down unsuspecting avenues for no reason what so ever. He watched a few dusks do their creepy walking thing past him at one point and very strongly resisted the urge to get them doing a choreographed dance routine. So very tempting, but no. The memories of Xaldin walking in on him doing this last time kept him very far from that idea indeed.

After a few more moments of tapping the Dusks on the shoulder with squirts of water and running away quickly, Demyx stood before the swirling black mass that was the exit portal to his mission. It seemed like a surprise really; a mysterious mission to do with no clear idea of what it actually was. Demyx only hoped it turned out to be the fun kind of surprise and not the painful kind. That kind sucked.

With a sudden burst of speed Demyx threw himself at the portal at a dead run –

-bursting through into the desired world at the same pace. He slowed slightly as he spun around, still running, and now admiring the new scenery. He had to admit, the guy who named The Emperor's Gorge really knew what he was talking about – it _was_ a gorge. Or perhaps it was a ravine. Or some type of crater. Demyx wasn't really an expert on geological terms, but in any case he found himself running out into middle of some rocky walled basin-type-thing. The walls seemed just that, walls. Really sharp cliff-like walls that spanned the entire length of the midsized cratery-place. The floor had that dusty-sandy deserty look that Demyx associated rather strongly with Agrabah. If he didn't know any better, he would've indeed thought he had just run head long into some kind of desert in a bowl. He vaguely remembered some type of Gobly desert in the Chinese Land of Dragons, but all Demyx could think of now was how the word desert was so very close to being the word dessert.

After a few more strides across the sandy basin Demyx noted that the end of the gorge immediately ahead of him narrowed outward into a kind of rocky corridor. The walls of the haphazard hallway were just as cliff like and rocky as the walls of the basin, and Demyx thought the entire scenery had just too much brown for comfort. Yet, he could not help but feel the anticipation of exploring some kind of completely unchartered maze as he ran headlong into this rocky crevice. His specialty was recon, after all.

He immediately found, however, that running headlong down this particular corridor wasn't the best of options, as the rocks were just as hard and jagged to run into as any other rock. This combined with the fact that the path seemed adamant to jaggedly twist and turn in as many directions as it possibly could left Demyx feeling utterly dazed as he slowed to a somewhat brisk walk. He was beginning to wonder just how long these twists and turns could possibly go for ... and half expected the corridor to show him something interesting as a reward for thinking such a thing. To his disappointment however, the crevice decided to keep going. Just as he was about to give up hope – well, it still kept going. Demyx smiled slyly to himself. The crevice may have won the mind games, but Demyx was GOOD at walking.

And so walk he did!

* * *

Thus ends the last of the already written chapters = 3 I have most of the rest already written out, but there are inbetween scenes I need to write in before we get there. So untill then, have fun! And Avoid eye contact with Sleepy Axels!


	3. Chapter 3 Ball Rolling

Be Careful =3 it starts getting interesting from here on out. And as always, the chapters start getting longer the further into the story they get. So enjoy that =3

There is also a gratitous reference to a suggestion from Becoafamu right there in the first chapter, so enjoy that too!

Anyway, without further adue, Dem- ... Uh, Xigbar?

* * *

**Chapter Three - Getting the Ball Rolling**

Xigbar trotted down the castle hallways quickly. His dark streaked hair streamed out behind him as the sound of his swishing Organization coat echoed down the empty halls. Well, almost empty halls. He had seen Xaldin just moments before, yet the man had been too lost in thought to notice Xigbar tip-toeing down a side corridor. It was Xigbar's distinct opinion that 'The Whirlwind Lancer' wasn't quite the right title for Xaldin. It was far too straight-forward for how disturbingly conniving the tall man was. If it had been up to Xigbar, he would've chosen something much more truthful. Something like ... The Silver-Tongued Lancier. Yeah, that was much better.

Snapping out of that train of thought, Xigbar focussed on what he was supposed to be doing. Well, to be fair, he was _supposed _to be in his room watching the events unfold on one of those high-tech oddly shaped screens, but this kind of opportunity didn't come by every day. While most of the preferred members had been sent out this morning, he was sure at least _one _of the remaining nobodies would be willing to place a bet on the outcome. The more people he could get betting the better. He was sure Xemnas wouldn't exactly approve of something so decidedly 'not nothing', but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Besides, Xigbar wasn't exactly one to stick to mission guidelines. Following the rules just wasn't as fun as the alternative. If fun could be had, then putting up with Xemnas' monotony would be well worth it. The Organization was just lucky Saïx had risen so high in the ranks - Xigbar made quite a terrible Number II as far as being boring was concerned.

Xigbar slowed his quick sneaking as he came to an intersection between two crossing hallways. He thought for a moment and took the left path. It was the only valid option considering neither Axel nor Luxord were still here in The Castle that Never Was. Those two were his most frequent gambling partners, with Demyx coming up a close third. Demyx didn't understand the rules so much when he participated, but he liked the fun of it – and this made him _very_ easy to get stuff out of. He supposed it may have been fairer if someone actually sat down and explained the rules to him for once, but no-one exactly wanted him to start winning. Demyx had the ability to be quite brilliant under pressure.

Xigbar came to another fork in his path and paused momentarily, casually glancing from one path to the other. To the uninitiated, the paths were practically identical. Whitish-grey walls on either side, riddled with the Neo-themed-Castle's trendy cables and computer chippy things. Further down out of sight, a section of the left path served as a balcony that looked over one of the vast rooms of the castle. The room in question was one of those huge gallant halls they had for - some reason. It at least fit the technological theme quite well, with all its neon lit pathways and marble statues. The fact that it was all a very bright white colour surely made it seem all the more impressive - you know, for a giant floating castle in the sky. Definitely impressive to the uninitiated, but Xigbar knew he was just stalling his choice of pathway out of sheer uncertainty. He casually bobbed his grizzled head from side to side. Who would be more open to fun?

He settled on Zexion. The guy was known for having a fun streak when he wasn't being all nerdy and reading, yet Xigbar knew all too well that Zexion was one of those stick-to-the-mission-until-it's-completely-done types. It might take some fast talking to convince the kid, but hey, anything was better than Vexen.

Picking up his pace again, Xigbar scooted down the right path, but then quickly slowed to a casual walk when he heard footsteps coming from further down the hall. He was completely unsurprised to see Lexaeus heading towards him - or heading past him rather. The guy spent quite a lot of time with Zexion. With a sly grin, Xigbar raised his hand in wordless wave. Lexaeus merely nodded as they passed each other.

A few steps later Xigbar was struck by a brilliant idea. He threw up his hands and spun on the spot, pointing back towards Lexaeus.

"Hey! Big guy!"

Lexaeus slowed enough to look back at Xigbar carefully, his thick brow making him look decidedly uninterested. Utterly failing to hide a hopeful smile, Xigbar trotted back up the hallway to the far-taller-and-far-wider nobody. He casually placed an arm on Lexaeus' shoulder and matched his long pace to walk beside him.

"Headed anywhere in particular?" Xigbar asked, vaguely trying to act like he struck up conversation with Lexaeus like this on a more common basis.

"Just following orders."

"Well hey, I'd hate to let a fun day like this go to waste," Xigbar accompanied his statement with an excited gesture from his other hand, "What would you say to making this whole event a little more ... interesting?"

Lexaeus was eyeing him sideways, but from the fact that he hadn't immediately declined Xigbar knew he was in. Perhaps with the Silent Hero on his side he could draw in a few of the others. In fact, he knew he could. One sensible member was all it took to draw in most of the rest. He would have to move fast, and be careful, but for someone who hung upside down from the ceiling to scare people like _Larxene_ this wouldn't prove a problem whatsoever. Especially if Xemnas' Plan B kicked in - then he was absolutely guaranteed to win.

* * *

Demyx's whistling was brought to an abrupt halt as he came to the end of the narrow rock-walled corridor. Apparently thin spaces lined with sharp walls weren't enough of a challenge for Demyx, and now he was being presented with a fantastically huge chasm instead. It seemed almost like an earthquake had cut a straight path through the rocky terrain, leaving the other side of the corridor just there on the other side of the jagged gap. Demyx was confronted with amusing thoughts of a giant cutting a piece of cake, with Demyx being left with the task of getting across the endless fall between his slice and the next.

Luckily for Demyx, there was an incredibly unstable looking rope bridge hanging here exactly for that reason. Demyx frowned at it. Surely this kind of bridge was far too cliché to exist. People would always recount adventures where the rickety swaying bridge would break _just _as they happened to walk across it, yet this was absolute nonsense. If the bridge was _that_ broken, it would have broken the last time someone tried to use it, and then some kind of Bridge Association Committee would have erected a small sign to warn of their incompetent bridge making skills. Demyx could see no sign however, just wooden planks held together by rather thick lengths of rope. You could even see the little steel staple things holding the rope and planks together. Clearly the people that fell to their certain deaths on these kinds of things were doing something horribly wrong; it was most certainly not the bridge's fault at all. Demyx felt rather sorry for the poor thing as he began to walk calmly across it.

He had walked roughly half way across the slightly rocking rope bridge when Demyx realised what a great view he had. The clear blue sky domed overhead, and the dark rocky walls of the chasm fell to some unimaginable depth below him. He held the hand-guide-rope with his hands and leaned over to see further down. It was quite a marvellous view really. It just went down and down and down until the sun could reach no further around the rocky chasms and all turned to darkness. It was like standing on the top of a tremendously tall tower but with no floor beneath you at all. He quite wished he had brought a camera with him or something.

As he looked back up he noticed one of the last things he had expected to see in a place like this; another person - and another member of the Organization at that. Roxas was standing at the end of the rope bridge, and for some odd reason he was looking at the support rope, his Keyblade in hand. Demyx had no idea whatsoever would be so interesting about looking at that particular piece of rope, unless Roxas was planning on joining that Bridge Association Committee and was filing a pre-emptive report of some kind. Whatever he was doing here, he was clearly looking at the wrong thing. This view of the chasm was just not to be missed. Demyx raised his arms and waved them both over at Roxas, who caught his eye and tightened the grip on his Keyblade with both hands.

"ROXAS! HEY!"

Roxas didn't reply as such. He just stood there holding his Keyblade, his eyes flickering back to the support rope. Demyx tried again.

"KID! Hey! Come look at this! The ravine must go down for MILES!" He gestured down over the side of the bridge to emphasise his point. "AMAZING ISN'T IT?" This time Roxas called back.

"I'm NOT looking!" He sounded rather angry. That was odd. Maybe the Committee had rejected his application.

"Aw come on Roxas! It looks great!"

"I won't fall for your tricks!" The clearly miffed kid of a nobody threw a last look at the support rope and shook his head in denial. "Just don't come any closer Demyx! You'll turn back now if you know what's good for you!"

And with that, Roxas turned and fled down the rocky corridor, his black Organization coat fluttering behind him as he rounded the corner and disappeared from sight. Demyx was left standing on the unstable little rope bridge wondering what on earth was up with the crazy kid. Perhaps puberty was rearing its ugly head. Nothing he had said made any sense whatsoever, and to make things even weirder he had seemed like he was trying to threaten Demyx. Demyx found this utterly baffling - the kid was shorter than Zexion. _Zexion. _

With an uncertain shrug of his shoulders Demyx decided to follow the poor guy and see what was up. He quickly traversed the rest of the rope bridge and just as he was patting the bridge's wooden post for a job well done, he heard a distinctively Roxas-sounding scream echo from down the rocky corridor.

Demyx was suddenly aware of how tall and menacing the dark rocky walls were when accompanied by the thoughts of imminent danger, yet he didn't have a moment to lose. He sped off down the cramped rocky hall in the direction Roxas had gone, and after merely a minute of sharp corners and tight squeezes he ran out into a wide walled basin, highly similar to the one he had first turned up in but quite a bit larger. The rocky walls were still rocky, the sandy floor was still sandy, yet the thing that was most distinctive about _this _part of the gorge in particular was that it had a Larxene standing smack bang in the middle of it.

Demyx blinked quickly, but it definitely wasn't an illusion. Her thin figure and lightning blonde hair made it unmistakable that this was indeed Larxene in all her intimidating glory. Demyx was certain he was taller than she was, but Larxene always managed to seem like the larger one whenever he was near her. He put it down to being utterly afraid of the crazy woman. Right now, however, she was oblivious to his existence and was bending over a dark robed figure lying limply on the ground. There was a rather distinctive blonde colour to the figure's hair, and the way it curled made Demyx clench his fists. Was that ... Roxas?

Without pausing to think, Demyx threw his hand up in the air. Jets of water spiralled up into it, swirling together and flashing into the form of his sitar. He held it at the ready with one hand, and pointed threateningly at Larxene with the other. He straightened his shoulders a little and summoned up his best authoritative voice, before demanding as harsh as he could that she explain what she was doing.

Larxene jolted with shock before spinning around to face him. Her eyes narrowed as her knives sprung quickly to her hands.

"You too then?" Larxene said coolly, sounding for all the world like she was amused. Demyx could only blink helplessly.

"Me too then what?" A knowing smile flashed on Larxene's face and she flourished her hand before her mockingly.

"Honestly Demyx, I expect even _you_ to be more informed. There was a memo?" Her face had that upward tilt that wordlessly spoke of how little she thought of him. Wait, Memo? Demyx's mind flashed. Pink piece of paper. Door. This Morning.

...Damn!

"I Uh ... I have no idea what you're talking abou-"

With a squeal Demyx threw up his sitar just in time to catch three surprisingly forceful thuds. She had ATTACKED him.

Demyx spared no time for thought. He spun around backwards, pulling his oversized weapon around with him into an instinctive battle position; sitar held before him, both hands at the ready, eyebrows in intimidating mode. This was ON!

Without a moment's hesitation Larxene launched herself at him - her arms held wide with the distinctive glint of her knives between her fingers. She was a crazy person. But Demyx knew this already. One could not meet Larxene without immediately thinking words that rhymed with hazy ditch – and it seemed Demyx had just found himself in a full blown fight with said rhyming words. He wasn't too good at fighting, yet he had luckily found that sheer hysterical panic worked far better at times like this.

Demyx threw a hand down and immediately three gushing pillars of jet force water shot up, flying towards Larxene at a phenomenal speed. The middle one sparked and burst outward as Larxene leaped through it, crackling with the electrical energy that coursed around her in scorching arcs. She landed and a stream of knives immediately flew with deadly precision straight towards Demyx – only to be knocked out of the air by a sudden shot of water, bursting through the knives and colliding with Larxene, hitting her straight in the chest.

Without even flinching she threw her hands high over head. The sky darkened momentarily as bolts of lightning violently rained down, ripping into the ground and spraying explosions of dirt far into the air. Taking the chance to launch his own assault, Demyx hoisted up his sitar and dramatically strummed a tune he spontaneously called "Escaping the Psychotic Madwoman". With each note a blade thin slice of water shot spiralling forward into the haze of dirt Larxene had been shrouded in. Splashes of mud echoed from the debris, but he could hear no sound of contact with his target.

The sudden sound of an electrical surge above him caused Demyx to haphazardly throw his sitar up in front of his face once more, this time only barely deflecting a thin stream of thunder. Larxene was floating in the air only feet above him. Even worse, she may have dented his sitar. Oh that was it.

As she spun around gracefully in the air, gathering electrical charge to shoot at any second, Demyx leant back, spun his sitar with both hands and hurled it as hard as he could up at Larxene. She barely had the time to look surprised before the sitar hit her squarely in the jaw with a very satisfying thud. Then she fell limply out of the air and crumpled in a heap on the sodden dusty ground. Demyx sighed in sheer relief and sunk to his knees. Just what was going on today?

In a sudden twinge of guilt, Demyx crawled over to Larxene just to make sure he hadn't accidentally killed the evil witch. She was breathing at least. Demyx took that as a good sign. He had the very tempting urge to mess with her perfectly immaculate hair. For the sake of his future health, he opted against doing so. Only just.

Demyx got to his feet and wandered slowly over to where his sitar had fallen. He had the sinking feeling that he may have dented it even further with his sudden crazed hurling strategy, yet upon a swift and gentle inspection there wasn't a single dent. Huh... Well, awesome. He definitely wasn't going to complain.

Demyx brushed the dirt off his coat as he got to his feet, bouncing back and forth to make sure everything still worked. He took a last glance over at Larxene lying limply in the middle of the gorge, deciding she was much more preferable in an unconscious state. He then realised he had forgotten about Roxas, yet the kid was absolutely nowhere in sight. He scanned the basin quickly, but there was simply nothing else there except for Larxene. Perhaps Roxas had taken the opportunity to continue fleeing. Whether he had or not, Demyx mused that he had things to do, and he was sure Roxas could handle himself now that Larxene was out of the picture. It was then that Demyx further realised he had missed a perfectly good opportunity to say something witty and dramatic just as he felled a dangerous foe. That was quite a bummer, but at least he was a little closer to completing this mission already. Demyx was now free to spin on his heel and march off triumphantly.

And he did so proudly- only running back to kick Larxene once.

* * *

Vexen stood near the entrance of the room, guiding the lesser nobodies in their task. The Dusks wriggled their way over to one of the many pallets in the room and carelessly dumped Roxas' unconscious body down onto it, immediately slithering away once they had done as instructed. Vexen coolly paced over to his desk, skilfully pulled up his clipboard and scribbled a note before turning his head back over to the large glaring screen mounted on the wall. The screen flickered occasionally, but it was more than sufficient for watching the desired members' progress.

He pursed his lips as he watched Larxene's counter abruptly stop and then disappear. The screen flickered to where she had been lying, and sure enough, she was no longer there. Vexen was most disappointed. His analysis had shown that undisturbed she would have been unconscious long enough for her to be ruled out, yet it seemed that something had indeed moved her further. Perhaps something had kicked her in passing.

Barely suppressing a mumble Vexen made another note on his clipboard. At the sound of the powered door sliding open, he turned his angular face and saw the thick form of Lexaeus approaching him quickly. The taller man glanced over at Roxas with an unreadable look on his face before starting to speak. Vexen didn't have time for these interruptions, but what he said made sense enough. Yes, perhaps he could use this to his advantage.

* * *

Caaaan you guess the plot yet? = 3 My editor came amazingly close, so I will assume it starts to get a lot more obvious here. If not, then don't worry =D Demyx is just as confused as you.

The Next chapter is swiftly approaching too, so keep an eye out o_o


	4. Chapter 4 Sudden Burst

**Chapter Four - Sudden Burst**

"BURN!"

Axel threw out his hands and engulfed the area with searing flames, scorching all in his path. He caught the sound of a sudden fluttering of cards and spun, snatching his chakrams out of the air in the process. He turned just in time to see Luxord dash down another rocky corridor. Axel grinned to himself. He was going the wrong way.

Without pausing, Axel turned back and darted across the cracked earth. He reached a similar parting in the rocky walls and sprinted down it, not daring to let go of his weapons for even a moment. He was so deep in the maze now that the rocky hallways were wide enough to run down - perhaps wide enough for two or three people to run abreast. Clearly this was some indication of going in the right direction.

Abruptly the wall to his left opened into a branching path and Axel spotted a black blur as he sped past. Without slowing, a wall of flames erupted out of the ground, fiercely blocking off the corridor completely. There was no way to tell who that had been, but Axel was not stopping to find out.

The rocky crevasse angled sharply to the right, and as Axel was turning something sharp tore through his coat just below the arm. He immediately ducked and rolled, tossing his chakram before him. It burst into flames as it spun, but the attacking figure deflected it and ran at him. Axel sprung to his feet and quickly threw a fist as hard as he could into the face of his opponent. Apparently he had caught them off guard and Axel watched as Larxene crumpled to the ground.

He snapped his hand out and his chakram loyally flew back to his hand. Yet before he could move off, the Savage Nymph was getting back to her feet. Without pausing to think, he spun his chakram. A small explosion erupted out of the side of the gorge, sending Larxene sprawling back down the corner Axel had just come around. The echo of the explosion was still ringing painfully in his ears, but Axel knew it hadn't been enough to put her out of action. He quickly spun and launched himself down the rocky hallway once more, soon sprinting out into another basin. He hoped Larxene hadn't cost him his lead, but his strategy seemed to be working so far.

The sound of lightning echoed from behind him and Axel ran headlong down the first open path he came across. Catching sight of a coated figure with blue hair walking ahead of him, Axel sped past and spun. The fireball he tossed was compressed enough to send Saïx flying backwards with a deafening roar, yet Axel landed and kept running as hard as he could. He would not stop, not until he got there before everyone else. He would not fail!

* * *

Demyx wasn't entirely certain what was going on. The rocky walls around him were shaking now, with the sound of distant explosions and thunder strikes echoing all around him. It can't have been going for more than half an hour yet, but it showed no signs of stopping whatsoever. At times the eruptions and screams of unknown sounds came closer, and at others they seemed further away, yet they were always there. Whatever was going on in this crazy gorge, Demyx was just glad that it was happening out _there. _With any luck he'd bypass whatever it was altogether.

Lost in his thoughts, Demyx had almost missed it when the corridors started to widen. It was a much more comfortable walk now, with Demyx almost able to stretch his arms out to either side, but it wasn't quite wide enough to be called homey. He vaguely hoped that Roxas had escaped from this crazy place unharmed, yet from the sound of it that may be unlikely. At the very least he wouldn't run into Larxene again, and that was _always _a good thing.

Abruptly the rocky walls widened out into a peculiar shape, and Demyx found himself in what seemed to be in the centre of some intricate pattern. Twelve rocky corridors opened up all around him, each one pivoting off into some windy path that the eye couldn't follow. Demyx turned in a circle slowly, realising this was probably the point where he was supposed to make some expert decision over which path would lead him onwards, and which ones would send him in circles around this gorge for the rest of his life. The only problem was, Demyx had absolutely no idea whatsoever. Even worse, he couldn't quite remember which one he had even come out of.

The sound of clashing steel sounded off to his left, and Demyx turned his head towards it, hands held out either side ready to run. The sound echoed twice more, and was quickly followed by the sound of a sudden explosion echoing out behind him. Demyx spun around to face the sound of his explosion, wondering which path it had come from, yet quickly turned back when the sound of steel meeting steel echoed three more times in quick succession. Before he could even think, an angry snarling started to echo faintly from yet another direction altogether before all three sounds started overlapping each other at once. Right, well, now he was completely lost _and _confused. Great, just great.

The explosions started getting louder, and Demyx came to the quick conclusion that he should probably get out of here as quick as he possibly could. He was just about to head down one path before a pillar of flame shot up into the sky a short way off, in the exact direction he had been about to go down. Yelping audibly Demyx turned and ran to the opposite selection of paths. He waited for all three sounds to sound once more and picked a hall that seemed completely free of any of them. Without wasting another second, Demyx ran down it as fast as he could, arms flinging wide as his long legs pumped.

Soon all sound dwindled, leaving Demyx with just the faint trembling of the earth as a reminder of the imminent danger. He didn't slow, but kept dodging down and around the many corners of the natural labyrinth. As he ran, Demyx fished into his pocket and pulled out Zexion's note, frantically searching it for any information he may have missed. He didn't think it was fair really. Just because he missed _one _memo Demyx was fleeing for his life down a miserably dusty maze in the middle of nowhere. At the very least, running into Larxene had told him one thing. The memo he had ignored had been for all the members, or at least more than just him. He was ready to bet a pretty penny on Zexion's note being only for him though, and so he scoured it for any advantage he could find.

Then he saw it, right there. _I want to wish you good luck for your task today. _Zexion wanted to wish him luck for _his _task, and while Demyx had originally presumed that meant it was a mission just for him, he now realised it meant that from Zexion's writing perspective it precisely meant that Zexion was not embarking on this dusty quest himself. Demyx couldn't think of any reason Zexion would be excluded if some of the other members hadn't also been spared the Maze of Doom, so this was just for some members, not all. Demyx was both relieved and slightly saddened by this. In all likelihood he wouldn't run into Xemnas here, which was as great a relief as there was, but there was no Zexion either. His side hopes of finding his closest friend in a moment of imminent danger were quickly dispelled.

He shook his head quickly and kept running. No matter. At least Zexion was safe. More than that, Zexion believed in him, the note said so. Demyx quickly noted the last part of the note and put it safely back inside his coat pocket. _Once you retrieve the item at the centre of the gorge you can safely return without being disqualified. _There was something odd about the use of the word disqualified –

Demyx's train of thought was quickly derailed as he skidded to a panicked stop, throwing his arms out to either side to keep his balance. The path immediately before him stopped and fell away in a sudden drop. A very _long _drop. Demyx had stopped just in time. One more step and ...

With a gulp he shuffled safely backwards from the edge. In doing so he realised that this was not a short chasm like he had encountered before, but seemed to be a high cliff looking over the rest of the valley; the entire rocky maze spread out before him. He had not remembered the path ascending at any time, but he supposed all the twists and turns had inevitably brought him up above the rest of the gorge, and now Demyx was left in awe at just how far this thing spread out. It was nestled comfortably between incredibly tall rocky shelves that encircled the entire valley, leaving the maze to sprawl out across the entire surface. From inside, each hallway had seemed immense to Demyx, yet from up here he could see that the pathways were innumerous and curled around in any which way they seemed to desire, opening out into the occasional open area before quickly squeezing back to a tiny corridor. Quite frankly it looked like the most impossible maze in existence, yet right in there in the middle Demyx could see it. A much larger circular area covered in a thick mist. Probably not natural mist, Demyx mused, considering the rest of the gorge was riddled with cracked earth and dry sand. That was most definitely his goal.

How he would reach it however still eluded Demyx completely. Even from this high up it was impossible to navigate any single path with his eyes, and even if he could there was no way to tell which path connected up with his own. As he was coming up with a strategy a female voice sounded from behind him.

"Why, hello again _Demyx._"

In a panic Demyx spun and stepped back to face her, yet with an immediate feeling of horror Demyx realised he had jumped back too far. He barely caught a glimpse of Larxene's shocked face before the world flew up before his eyes. Demyx was falling.

It wasn't the graceful kind of free fall that sky divers experienced when they fell through open air, flipping and falling unobtrusively. No, Demyx had been right on the edge of a cliff face, and thus his fall rather succinctly consisted of him falling down _along_ the rocky cliff, arms flailing madly trying to slow his rabid fall and his feet kicking against the hard rocky surface - rocks and dust went flying as he went. The world flew by and through his rabid panic Demyx was confronted with the thought that he was going to die right here, right now.

Yet, even as he thought this he knew this wasn't how he was going to die. No, he would not. It just wasn't fair! As the air buffeted him in his downward flight Demyx threw out any action at all mindlessly. Thus, before he even knew what he had done, he was being propelled away from the cliff face by a horizontal geyser, throwing him far out over the expanse below him. For a moment Demyx's panic was quelled, and before the panic could resettle Demyx threw his arms out to either side, looking down at the swiftly approaching fall. The water around him gathered beneath his feet, and the immense geyser of water flowed over and downwards like some haphazardly falling wave, with Demyx riding it for all the world like a supernatural skateboard.

He was falling, yes, but now he was falling diagonally and he could control his descent. He experimentally swerved to either side and found it worked quite wonderfully. The smile was wide on Demyx's face as he flew downwards on his mid air wave, flying closer and closer to the centre of the maze. He wouldn't make it to the centre at the rate he was descending, but he could get far closer than he ever could have by walking. Best of all, this was amazingly fun! Ridiculously so! The wind was rushing past him and Demyx was _surfing _to safety. Take that sudden fall! It took more than that to take Demyx down!

The tall walls of the gorge's halls were swiftly approaching, so Demyx skilfully eased his wave down towards one of the small open basins. As the ground rushed up to meet him, he quickly realised he hadn't quite puzzled out how to slow down.

The wave hit the ground and dispersed, sending Demyx tumbling across the sandy ground with far more speed than he was expecting. He was tossed and tumbled across the ground until he finally stopped with a sound thump. When the world had agreed to stop spinning Demyx slowly got to his feet, cringing as he did so. He felt like he was scratched and bruised all over to say the very least, but he could not help but marvel at the fact that he was still alive. He had survived falling out of the sky and was now closer to getting _out _of this crazy mission once and for all.

With a smile Demyx turned towards the nearest corridor. Then his face fell at the sight of someone standing right before him. Tall and slender with wide shoulders, the pink haired man's Organization cloak seemed perfectly spotless. Demyx didn't need to look down at his own to know that he was caked in a layer of dirt from head to toe from the fall. Marluxia seemed to find this highly humorous as he barked a graceful laugh and pointed his scythe at Demyx, smiling far too smugly.

Normally Demyx would have mentally noted just how pink his scythe was, yet from this angle the only thing it seemed was _sharp_.

Before he could even react, a mass of writhing vines had whipped up around his legs and torso, effectively trapping his arms to his sides in the process. Try as he might, he couldn't move an inch. He could, however, glare at Marluxia angrily - which he did. Demyx summoned his best angry eyebrow expression and mentally hit Marluxia with a splash attack. Unfortunately, it had no effect, being in Demyx's imagination and all. Marluxia tossed his hair triumphantly and crossed his arms, considering Demyx with a look of snobbish contempt. This did not last long however, as before he could say something proud and demeaning a wildly spinning chakram collided with the back of Marluxia's head. Hard.

The result was a strange gurgling sound emitting from Marluxia's mouth as he slowly slumped and fell face forward into the dirt. Demyx had seen two organization members do that today. It never quite got old.

Apparently having forgotten the saviour chakram altogether, Demyx was rather surprised to see Axel striding towards him. Of course, there was not a lot one could say when found constricted in a tight tentacular mass, so Demyx settled for the first thing that came to mind.

"Axel! Hey! You're uh ... looking lively." Yeah, that'd do. Demyx tried his very best to make it look like he wasn't particularly worried about his current circumstances. Apparently this was difficult to do when one was immobilised completely and suspended in mid air, however.

Axel busied himself casually examining the limp form of Marluxia before responding to Demyx's comment. "Ah, Demyx," He said as he finally turned to him, looking him up and down lazily, "Didn't know you were into that kinda thing." Axel's poor humour aside, Demyx was very relieved that he had finally encountered an Organization member that wasn't decidedly crazy or potentially murderous. Perhaps he'd actually get some answers about this monstrosity of a day.

"Axel, whaaat exactly is going on? Here, I mean?" he asked happily.

Axel tilted his head to the side and considered Demyx in amusement. "You have no idea what's going on?" Well, he thought he had some idea, but Demyx didn't exactly feel like explaining his meager guesswork while completely entangled in vines. Much easier just to get the truth straight off.

"Nah-uh."

"None at all?"

"None Whatsoever!"

"Hmm!" Axel tapped his chin in thought, smiling deviously, "Well as much as I'd _love_ to stay and fill you in, I have a prize to collect. So I will leave you with your uhh.. whatever it is you were doing." With that, Axel saluted Demyx and walked straight past him, viney mass and all.

"Huh?! No, Axel! Come back! You can't leave me like this!" Demyx struggled furiously against his bonds, but it was no use. These vines were TIGHT. Damn that Marluxia! Damn Axel! Damn the whole bloody Organization!

Just as Demyx was readying a further list of all the select things he wished to curse into damnation he suddenly felt the world lurch around him as he thumped heavily on the floor, the mass of vines falling with him.

He quickly disentangled himself and looked behind him just in time to see Axel snatch his returning chakram out of the air before speeding off down the chasm. That tool! If it was indeed some sort of prize that everyone was after, well, Demyx wasn't about to make it any easier for them. With a sudden grin of determination he soaked himself in a rush of water and sped off after Axel on a furious wave. Oh yes, the hurt was on.

* * *

The familiar whooshing of teleportation echoed behind him. Xemnas turned slowly to consider the new arrival to his chamber. Xigbar was leaning against the wall casually; arms folded and grizzled face smiling.

"You called, Xemnas?"

"Correct", Xemnas stated emotionlessly, pronouncing each word without a single facial expression, "There has been a change in plan. VIII and IX are proceeding too quickly." Xigbar stood up straighter and stretched his arms in relief.

"Well finally. Things were starting to get stale around here." Xemnas pretended to ignore his unprecedented display of boredom. Nobodies couldn't feel emotions, after all.

When Xemnas said nothing more Xigbar tossed his hand up in a friendly farewell and teleported out in a streaked twirl of darkness. The other members had a habit of doing that. Acting as if they could actually feel things. _Or could they? _Xemnas pondered this for a brief moment before dismissing the thought. No, it wasn't possible. He had studied the inner workings of the heart to a greater extent than any other, there was no way he would consider being incorrect at this point - anomalies and all.

In an effort to end this train of thought, Xemnas turned back to the hazy screen and smiled as Xigbar streamed into view. Noting that, he quickly brought his lips back down into his very precise emotionless face and pretended it had never happened. He could not be wrong. He just could not be. Too much rested on this.

* * *

Woaaah look. Chapter Four done! There should only be one or two chapters to go now, depending. Most likely two, but you never know. Demyx might do something AMAZING and surprise me.

But yes! Tell me your thoughts!

I have to congratulate becoafamu for basically nailing her guess on what's going on, though sadly I couldn't find any place to fit little Vexen in to say so. She also Beta'd this chapter, so go tell her how awesome she is! = 3 I'm sure the plot should be wonderfully clear by now what's going on and all, so I will end with this!

Who do you think is going to win? GO ON, TRY GUESS! = D


	5. Chapter 5 Observations

I will take a quick moment to thank some people =3 Firstly to Becoafamu, for being amazingly full of awesome and taking all the extra time to review every chapter. Also thanks to ash~nobody (=D You owe me a smile now) and Ninjasheik. And Marky of course, but he doesn't read the published versions = 3

But yes, enough stalling = 3

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Observations**

Zexion leaned back in his chair, stretching slightly. All this note taking was tiresome, but it shouldn't be too much longer. He had long since abandoned any attempts of observing every member like he had originally planned and had shifted to just watching the most promising members. He straightened a little with pride in noting that Demyx was indeed one of these more promising members. It was quite remarkable really. Zexion had snuck by Demyx's room earlier to check that he had in fact seen his note and had been surprised to find that while his note was gone, the _mission_ note was still right there on his door, untouched. Yet despite this, Demyx had turned up anyway and broken his way straight up to second place. Clearly The Melodious Nocturne was incredibly adept at spontaneously adapting to situations. Oh! That sounded good. Zexion sat back up and scrawled this into his notes.

He was about to look back up at the large tournament screen when a smaller one in a weirder shape flickered on to his left. Vexen's face filled the screen, looking gaunt and disgruntled as usual. Zexion tried his best not to cringe. He turned and looked at Vexen around his waterfall of hair hanging down before his face.

"What is it?"

Vexen's eyes narrowed in response but apparently he decided there were more important things to discuss than Zexion's unfriendly tone of voice. He cleared his throat and spoke up. "There have been developments. Number XI has been disqualified."

Zexion peered over Vexen's shoulder and sure enough, a flurry of pink hair was being unceremoniously dumped on an empty bed behind him. Excellent.

"Thank you," Zexion said briefly as he took up his pencil and crossed out Marluxia's name. Vexen merely nodded before the screen quickly blinked back to darkness. Vexen had taken the members numbered X and higher when Zexion had called him up and proposed splitting the research between them for increased efficiency. It was him and Vexen that had orchestrated the original plan for the tournament after all. Well, to be fair, it was mostly Vexen's idea, but Zexion had helped conclusively decide on just testing the non-original members of the organization to increase the amount of observations that could be recorded. Of course, they hadn't _told_ the newer people that it was only them participating, which provided them with an opportunity to test their intuition on as well. Ah, the wonders of vague wording. What could it do next?

Zexion shuffled comfortably back into his chair and looked up at the large screen once more, holding his notes in his lap. Axel and Demyx were still racing rapidly down one of the central crevices. It was quite spectacular, really, just how well Demyx handled that wave as he rode it around corners and curves. Axel was having a hard time keeping ahead, but he was succeeding. Zexion took the chance to quickly check on Saïx, yet the man had done little since his brief encounter with Marluxia earlier. Zexion made a quick note over how little Saïx was really trying before flicking back to Demyx and Axel. Just because Saïx had an extra role to play didn't mean he had to avoid conflict so avidly. He was being tested too, even if he was a little more knowledgeable. Besides, if he didn't pick up his pace soon he would quickly lose his chance to carry out his task. Demyx and Axel were proceeding dangerously fast.

Zexion tapped a few buttons on his over sized keyboard and a map appeared on screen - blinking dots showing where each member was currently situated. Unless something miraculously stopped them, Axel and Demyx would be at the centre before Saïx even got close. Larxene and Luxord were snaking their way around towards their middle as well - also faster than Saïx. Zexion almost snarled at the man's incompetence. He was going to ruin everything!

Just as Zexion was reaching to contact the Superior, the door to his chamber slid open with a mechanical hiss. Zexion spun in his wheeled office chair to see Lexaeus walking back in. The man had been gone for practically the entire tournament so far, but Zexion was glad he had finally returned. His presence was comforting.

"What's new?"

Lexaeus strode over to his desk. It was near Zexion's, complete with identical screens and typing apparatus. They made a very effective work team, so this second work space had been installed to maximise efficiency. Zexion had the sneaking suspicion that Lexaeus' intelligence actually exceeded his own, yet he hadn't been presented with the chance to test this out yet. The man was definitely stronger though, that went without question.

"Xemnas sent in Xigbar," Lexaeus answered calmly. Well, that was good news. Perhaps Saïx wouldn't prove useless after all. Yet, Lexaeus had been gone far too long for just that piece of news.

"And?" he asked.

"...And Xigbar proposed a bet."

"On whom?"

"Against Demyx."

Now that was something. Zexion smiled deviously as he glanced back up at the screen, Demyx still firmly behind Axel.

"I'll take that bet."

* * *

Lurching around a sharp corner, Demyx kept up his pursuit of Axel. The man was fast, but not even The Flurry of Dancing Flames could run forever. With a smile on his face, Demyx urged his wave to go faster as it obediently gushed forward. He and his wave sloshed noisily around another sharp corner and suddenly they were racing into another wide open area. Now that he had a clear shot, Demyx focussed on the fleeing figure of Axel and gathered a ball of water in his palm.

Yet even as he readied his attack a loud shot echoed loudly throughout the canyon. Axel, who had been running straight ahead, was now flying suddenly to the left and crashing forcefully into a rather inconveniently placed group of sizeable boulders. Demyx was so shocked that he immediately halted his wave. It quickly receded down into the earth and Demyx was left standing in a patch of sodden mud, staring ahead at the limber figure before him. _Xigbar._

Demyx threw a concerned look over at Axel, causing The Freeshooter to chuckle in amusement.

"Don't worry Kid," Xigbar was calling out conversationally, his surfer accent strong, "He'll be up and about again before his timer runs out." Timer?Before he could ask, Xigbar indicated one of his guns by waving it. "Set it to stun!" He sounded like he was making some witty joke.

Demyx didn't get it.

His mouth worked soundlessly, but there were too many questions Demyx wanted to ask, all battling for supremacy over the others. Xigbar noticed and laughed again.

"Didn't get the memo right? I checked," he chortled, "Suits me just fine actually."

"Wait," Demyx finally called out, "What?"

Xigbar hefted one of the mechanical monstrosities he called gunsonto his shoulder and waved at Demyx with his free hand.

"No hard feelings, okay?"

"Uhh... For what?"

Xigbar simply barked another laugh and pointed the huge spiked menace at Demyx. There was a flash and he was gone. Before Demyx could even blink he heard a distinctive click sounding right behind him.

* * *

Zexion cringed as Demyx flew limply across the chasm and tumbled into a heap on the dusty ground. With a sigh, he lifted his pencil and crossed Demyx's name off the list in front of him. He had been hoping Demyx would do so much better.

As he lifted his eyes back to the screen however, Zexion was pleasantly surprised to see Demyx scrambling to his feet. Now, Zexion wasn't an expert on the mechanics of gunfire, but he logically assumed that a shot from one of _Xigbar's _guns at such a close range would completely disable anyone.

After a brief moment of thought he lifted his hand and waved it emphatically at the screen before him. Events flew in reverse and paused just at the point where Xigbar teleported behind Demyx. Zexion gestured his hand in the appropriate motions and the screen zoomed in on Demyx. Playing it again at a tenth of normal speed, Zexion watched what had happened. In the brief second after Xigbar had clicked the gun into place, an impressively thick bubble had shot up around Demyx, only to be popped immediately by the incoming laser shot. It had happened at such a phenomenal rate Zexion was surprised it had worked at all. Yet if Demyx hadn't been totally incapacitated, which he wasn't, the makeshift bubble shield must have negated the laser upon contact even as Demyx was thrown forward from the force of the impact.

Zexion couldn't help but smile. Demyx was instinctive, and it was proving an effective strategy.

"The Kid's about to fight back" Lexaeus toned from across the room.

Zexion swiftly adjusted the screen back to playing the present as he groped quickly around his desk for his eraser.

By the time Zexion had erased the strike through Demyx's name, Demyx stood with his sitar in hand, facing Xigbar. A short moment of stillness passed between them. Then Demyx lifted his sitar. Immediately, Xigbar disappeared in a flash of purple. Demyx pivoted on the spot, swinging his sitar around like a mallet – catching Xigbar right in the side of the face and sending him staggering. Zexion broke into a smile once again. Demyx had impressively good hearing, quite possibly from his skills as a musician. He noted that down too.

Demyx fiercely kicked Xigbar's gun from his hand, sending it spiralling off across the ground, before pointing a finger threateningly at his opponent. There were words being spoken, but by the time Zexion remembered to unhit the mute button it was over.

"He said "Alright Xigbar, tell me what's going on,"" Lexaeus offered from across the room again. Zexion grimaced and murmured his thanks.

With the sound now back on, Zexion could hear Xigbar's chuckle as he simply vanished from in front of Demyx and reappeared back at the centre of the open area. In another flash of purple light his gun appeared back in hand, quickly followed by Xigbar's second gun in his other. Demyx looked slightly disgruntled about his opponent gaining the upper hand back again so quickly, but he still seemed determined.

Zexion knew for a fact that Xigbar was incredibly confident in facing Demyx. He had heard his "The Trick to Beating Demyx is That He Doesn't Move Very Much" speech a thousand times over. Yet from what he had seen so far, Demyx was trying something new this time. Perhaps it would be enough to throw Xigbar off guard.

The silence was shattered as Xigbar unleashed a volley of shots. The laser shards arched through the air, blurring with speed, yet before they could connect with Demyx he had thrown a hand out and surrounded himself in a thick murky bubble. It burst when the stream of shots sliced through it, leaving only empty air behind. Zexion blinked. Demyx was gone? The screen angled quickly over to the left, focussing in on an identical bubble that had formed on the other side of the gorge, behind Xigbar.

The bubble popped, and out stumbled a rather dazed looking Demyx. Well that was new. Perhaps those combat lessons were paying off. No, there was no 'perhaps' about it. Demyx was significantly improving. He was far from a confident fighter, but once he was lost in the passion of the moment Demyx was truly a force to be reckoned with. The unperceptive might not be able to grasp the idea, but there was a reason why Demyx was a truly valuable member of the Organization. In a very forced effort to sound more casual, Zexion summarised briefly. Demyx 'kicked ass'.

Xigbar found Demyx again, clearly just as impressed as Zexion was.

"Clever little sneak!"

Xigbar raised his guns and fired another bright volley of shots at Demyx, this time arcing from two different directions. Just as before, a bubble quickly formed around Demyx, to be popped on impact leaving nothing behind. Xigbar spun around expectantly, but his eyes widened at what he saw next. He was surrounded by wide circle of identical bubbles, each large and murky enough to be hiding a Demyx inside. Zexion gulped and leaned forward, watching the screen intently. Demyx was good. Demyx was _definitely _good. He just hopped Xigbar wasn't going to get carried away and hurt him too badly.

Xigbar spun, laser shots spiralling outward by the dozens. Yet this time, each time a bubble popped a flood of tall water formed figures danced out of it, dashing to and fro around the battle field. In a few short seconds there were literally hundreds of water clones darting around the canyon, each complete with a watery sitar and mullet. After a moment they all stopped in place. Then hundreds of watery heads turned towards Xigbar, each letting out an identical cry of determination and launching themselves at him. With a look of focussed determination Xigbar fired rapidly, his arms seemingly lost in a blur. Lasers were firing out in every direction, disappearing and reappearing high over head, tearing down into the mass of watery assailants. But there were too many. They quickly closed in on Xigbar and soon formed a tight ring around him. Before he could get away, they all simultaneously raised their sitars like mallets and brought them crashing into Xigbar. The one synchronized hit was all they got, as on impact they exploded out into droplets of water, drenching Xigbar and the surrounding earth completely.

Zexion was simply awestruck. It wasn't quite like Demyx to try so hard in battle. Was there some reason in particular why Demyx had chosen today to display his skill? Zexion made a small note in the margin reminding him to ask Demyx this later and turned back to the screen eagerly. Xigbar sagged slightly in his battle ready stance. Clearly the impact of the blows hadn't been dulled any by the fact that they were made of water. Zexion spotted Demyx half way across the gorge, walking towards Xigbar with a goofy smile wide on his face.

"Give up yet?" Demyx called out, hefting his sitar around as he spoke.

"As if!"

Xigbar vanished and reappeared in mid-air, upside down above Demyx. He yelped and ran for cover, sitar held over his head. Xigbar laughed and spun, shots spiralling down in a violent rain. Demyx leaped up onto a wave of water that sprung out of the earth, carrying him safely out of range. He landed on a group of boulders, similar to the ones Axel had been thrown against but on the other side of the natural arena. Xigbar had reappeared on the ground and was running at Demyx, guns held up pointing directly at him. Demyx started playing his sitar.

Pillars of water sprung up in response, gushing upward with notable force. They shot towards Xigbar, each speeding along in time with the tempo of Demyx's tune. Even as Xigbar weaved through them another row of geysers sped towards him. Xigbar teleported back to the centre of the arena – immediately getting thrown to the ground by a third set of geysers heading in the opposite direction. Zexion watched with wonder. There were uncountable geysers criss-crossing across the battlefield, heading in all directions with such a speed that it seemed like some highly elaborate dance. Knowing Demyx, it probably was.

"The Kid shows surprising power with the right motivation," Lexaeus noted, clearly sounding impressed. Zexion was impressed too. "I can see why you like him so much."

"There's more to Demyx than meets the eye," Zexion agreed. He snorted quickly. "You'd like him." Lexaeus snorted at that too, turning his attention back to the fight.

By now Xigbar had given up trying to weave through the complex pattern and had teleported back to the entrance of the area. He hefted up one of his guns smoothly and fired a single shot. Demyx yelped as it collided forcefully with his sitar, sending him falling onto his backside. The gushing pillars of water quickly died down, sinking down into the completely sodden ground. Demyx was wide open.

Xigbar didn't need to be told twice. Demyx got back up on his feet, but Xigbar was gone from sight. In a desperate frenzy of panic Demyx grabbed his sitar from the neck and swung it around as fast as he could – colliding directly with the side of Xigbar's face. Xigbar staggered visibly this time, his eyes flashing violently. Zexion wasn't quite sure what was more remarkable; the fact that Xigbar had tried the same attack twice or that Demyx had countered it so well each time. A third surprise was the fact that sitars apparently held great combat power.

A small chime echoed faintly throughout the canyon. Hearing it, Xigbar suddenly stood up straighter. He barked a laugh as if dismissing the events that had just occurred and simply waved at Demyx.

"You be a good boy now!"

Darkness domed around him and then he was gone. Zexion pondered for a moment, then he checked Saïx's location. Ah, yes, of course. He had finally managed to get in position. Xigbar no longer needed to stall. Demyx was glancing around the canyon just in case, but Xigbar had really gone this time. A look of surprise spread across Demyx's face, and after quickly panning the camera to the left Zexion noticed why. Axel was gone. Zexion's eyes flickered instinctively over at the counter, but Axel was still up and running. Clearly he had taken the opportunity to speed off ahead of Demyx. Coming to the same conclusion, Demyx sighed. _Don't give up_, Zexion wanted to tell him, _You're almost there. You can win this Demyx. _

Demyx couldn't hear him of course, but he seemed to be thinking along the same lines. He touched his pocket briefly before bursting into a sudden smile. Then he was running off towards the exit of the open basin, sitar swinging wildly in his hand. Zexion whistled in relief and leant back in his chair once more, adding a few more observations to his notes. Now that Saïx was in place the final act could begin, and the winner of today's tournament-style-competition would finally emerge. Demyx was almost there. He had been amazing so far, though Zexion couldn't help but feel guilty over getting him into such a stressful situation. He thought for a moment. Candy. Demyx liked Candy. He would have to get some before meeting up with Demyx this evening.

* * *

THERE YOU GO!

Next up is the final chapter, so be ready for the interesting climax = 3 It's not too late to place a bet on who'll win, but Xigbar might shoot you if you beat him, so be careful o_o


	6. Chapter 6 Choices

Okay so the final chapter got delayed, much to my chagrin D: I suppose it's only been 5 days since chapter 5 was uploaded But oh well! It FEELS delayed!

I want to quickly thank everyone who read, reviewed and Beta'd the story so far. It's grown into what it is because of the wonderful input I received, so thank you to all of you! YOU GUYS ROCK!

On a side note, this story was very seriously going to be a "Oh look the Organisation Members can be friends and not need to have sex with everyone at the drop of a hat" story, but my two biggest feedbackers both blackmailed me because they wanted slash xD So be careful, slight hints at the end. You have been warned!

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Choices**

Demyx steadied himself with a hand on the rocky wall as he quickly caught his breath. He was close, he could feel it!

... Well, no, he couldn't _feel_ it, but he _could _remember just how close to the centre he had fallen earlier. It couldn't be much further now. Just a little bit more and this crazy crack pot of a mission would finally be over. If Demyx managed to whack anyone else with his sitar on the way, well, even better.

His breathing was steadier now, but Demyx was quite enjoying the rest. One could never be too prepared when rabid organization members might be crying for your blood around the corner. He vaguely wondered just who else might be down here. Axel for a certainty. The firey redhead was proving tough competition. Larxene too. He had been so sure that she was down for the count the first time around, but she had managed to sneak up behind him while he was up on the cliff earlier. As for Marluxia ... well, he had seen Marluxia go down too, but if Larxene had managed to get back up again then for all intents and purposes Marluxia had probably done the same. He hadn't seen Roxas since the very beginning, but the kid could possibly still be around here somewhere. Those members, at least, were probably still here somewhere. It had seemed almost like a selection of the newer members when he had noticed the distinct lack of anyone cold and distant, but Demyx's theory had been dashed with the sudden appearance of Xigbar.

Xigbar's appearance was still a mystery to Demyx. He had just shown up, attacked randomly, and had disappeared just as suddenly. He definitely hadn't been in the same rush that Axel had been. But then, Xigbar never was. If he had been sent on this mission too then it was more than likely he had decided to get someone else to take over so he could have some fun instead. He did that quite often in fact, not that Demyx could judge.

Brushing himself off quickly, Demyx hefted up his sitar and resumed his casual jogging down the ravine. He was getting rather used to the brown hues and colours of the rocky walls all around him. It was actually quite pretty if you looked at it in the right way. Perhaps it was a sign that Demyx sorely needed a change of scenery.

The walls had long since widened out further than any of the corridors so far. It wasn't even subtle anymore, it was just Bam! - Wide hallway. You could easily drive a tank down one of these now, not that driving heavy machinery was really Demyx's thing. It had been relatively straight for a while now too. Demyx was pretty sure he had passed a rocky outcrop that had distinctly looked like the words "V was here", but he was half convinced that this was just even more evidence that he sorely needed out of this place. It was too quiet now. The only sounds he heard were his own steady breaths and the scuffs of his boots as he ran.

A sharp corner was coming up.

Demyx ran ahead and turned, confronting the new sight before him with a grin. The rocky hall was no more. The boundaries sharply widened out into the largest open area of the entire gorge, so wide and open that the sudden presence of so much sky was overwhelming. After being in a narrow confined space for so long Demyx welcomed the change gladly. The middle of the area before him was completely shrouded in the dome of mist he had spied earlier. It was _huge_, large enough to hide an entire castle inside he was sure, and so dense Demyx couldn't see anything in it at all save for the murky misty air.

There was something he _could _see however. Saïx. Right there, between Demyx and the dome of mist. His strands of deep blue hair hung down to either side of his face, emotionless eyes fixed on the redhead before him. Catching the sound of Demyx's boots, Axel turned quickly, seeing Demyx, though he said nothing, arms still out either side of him as if ready to summon his chakrams at any second.

Saix turned to face Demyx, no emotion showing on his face whatsoever. His arms hung effortlessly at his sides, and for all the world he seemed a very effective impersonation of a wall.

"Demyx", he toned levelly, "I hadn't expected you to make it this far."

"Okay, wait a sec." Demyx held up his fingers and ticked them off as he spoke, "So, we're in a tournament of some kind, we're trying to get some sorta prize, and we're meant to fight each other? Is that it?"

"Precisely why I wasn't expecting you to be so successful, number IX." Demyx flinched. Saix had the ability to show all the emotion of a brick. It was just plain unsettling, not to mention rude. Demyx _knew _he could get angry, he had _seen _it. He probably just spent far too much time with Xemnas. Demyx casually tried to peek beyond Saix, but the fog was still impenetrable. He concluded that it was the general direction he was supposed to go in. If anything, it was where Axel was heading, and that was bound to be good.

"Enough of this!" Axel spat, swinging an arm out further to either side, "_Move _Saïx. I won't ask again!"

Saïx, however, was looking over beyond them both. Before Demyx could turn to see what had caught his interest, Saïx threw a hand out and in a flash had summoned his heavily spiked claymore, the tiniest of tiny smiles on his face.

"As you wish."

It all happened at once. Saïx hefted his claymore up to swing, but was forced to jump backwards as Axel leaped forward, slashing his chakrams through the air where Saïx had been a second before. Even as his feet touched the ground he was leaping backwards, dodging the sudden peal of lightning that shattered the ground before him.

Demyx eeped loudly and ran to the side, away from the sudden combat, but watching it carefully. Someone could turn on him at any moment.

Axel was leaping backwards with each step, desperately avoiding Larxene's furious dance of attacks. Before she could land a blow on Axel she was thrown to the side, knocked away by Saïx's hideous weapon even as he was thrown backwards as well, two giant playing cards spinning after him through the air. A third card turned and Luxord appeared, quickly deflecting an attack from Larxene before both simultaneously leapt to the left, away from the sudden row of flaming pillars searing across the battle field.

It was utter madness. Nobodies flew into each other, bounced off each other and flew into others, lightning and fire exploding all around the chaotic battlefield. It had been mere seconds, and Demyx wanted no part of it.

Taking his chance while he still had it, Demyx threw his head down and ran as fast as his legs could take him straight into the mist – no one had the chance to stop him. He plunged through the thick fog, paying no attention to how damp he suddenly felt, though damp was a bit of an understatement. The air was so thick with water that it almost seemed to be slowing him down. His sitar disappeared in a flash of bubbles as Demyx clapped his hands together. There was no use fighting his way through if he could do it an easier way.

Just as Demyx heard footsteps thundering up behind him he threw his hands wide, not slowing his pace at all. The mist rippled and swirled, visibly spiralling together. It was slow at first, but within seconds the mist was spiralling in vast amounts, churning into water spouts reaching as tall as the mist would allow. Demyx ran past easily, yet as soon as he was clear they touched the chasm floor, launching themselves at whoever was following him. He did not look back, but he knew that it would at least slow whoever it was down.

His water tornados strangely hadn't dimmed the thickness of the fog at all, perhaps another hint to its magical nature, yet after a few more strides the mist was gone altogether. He spun and saw a thick wall of mist forming a sizeable dome around him. The air inside was clear, and light was coming from somewhere. It surely wasn't natural light; the misty white all around was too thick to let sight penetrate it even slightly. Demyx turned to face the centre of the clear dome, which, he assumed, was probably at the exact centre of the entire gorge itself. There in the very centre was a short pedestal carved out of white marble, looking entirely out place on the otherwise sandy ground. Atop the intricately carved stone was a single object, glinting in the unnatural light. Demyx took a few steps closer and saw that it was a perfect replica of the Organization symbol, somewhat like a golden cross with a fish tail. So, this was it huh? The prize of the entire mission? A shiny trinket?

"...How anticlimactic!" Demyx muttered to himself as he bent down to get a better look, all thoughts of rushing dispelled. Well, it _was _gold. Or at least gold plated. He licked his lips suddenly. Perhaps it was chocolate?

Demyx reached out a hand to check and yelped despite himself as a wall of flames erupted up in front of the pedestal. Demyx was forced to fall backwards to avoid getting burnt to a crisp right there and then. Before he could even so much as sit up there was a very sharp looking pointy thing being held an inch from his face. He blinked, trying not to go cross eyed, and looked beyond at the owner of the pointy thing. Axel grinned down at him, playful malice spread across his face like ... like some poetic analogy Demyx couldn't quite think up in this position.

Axel let out a short insincere laugh, the chakram not moving an inch.

"You surprised even me, Demyx. Who knew you'd get so close?" Demyx gulped. Twice today he had found himself in compromising positions with Axel present. He liked it _so_ much less than watching mean people crumple to the ground, oh yes, it wasn't even close on the fun scale. Taking his gulp as a legible answer Axel continued.

"Give up Demyx," his voice sudden cold as ice, "Make it easier for yourself."

As he lay in the sandy dust, a chakram held at his face and a very angry Axel standing above him, Demyx considered his options. He could yield, thereby saving his face from the unavoidable Saïx like scars he was seconds away from earning, or ... or ...

Was there any other way out of this? The golden symbol was _right _there. He had been so close, yet now, even as it lay just a few feet away, it may as well have been on another planet. Even if he did manage to get Axel off him for even a second, there was little hope of him diving through the scorching hot wall of flames untouched before Axel burnt him to holy hell. Ah, the choices. How wonderful they were.

His mind made up, Demyx tsked, rolling his eyes at Axel.

"Fiiiiiine," trying his best to sound bored, "But you _totally _owe me ice cream, Axel." Axel smiled, the chakram point moving away from Demyx's face, much to Demyx's glee. "No, Make that two!"

Axel laughed. A pleasant, normal Axel laugh. Demyx almost sighed in relief. He wouldn't look like Saïx after all.

* * *

Demyx leaned comfortably back in the cushioned arm chair, one leg hanging over the arm rest. Now that the murderous day was over, Demyx was left to do what he did best; eat sugary things.

Axel had surprisingly come through with Demyx's ice cream deal, even bringing the second. Demyx had been half expecting him to forget about the ice cream altogether, yet Axel had been in an amazingly good mood since he had been hailed the champion of the day's tournament. It was only at the debrief meeting that Demyx had finally learnt why everyone had been so eager to win the competition. The prize, most graciously received by Axel, had in fact been a fortnight of exemption from missions. It was a pretty fair deal really. Fight in mortal combat with your colleges to see who would get the holiday. Demyx was honestly surprised they hadn't thought of this earlier.

Yet as it was, Demyx didn't think he had come off too bad from the entire ordeal. He had gotten ice cream out of it at the very least, and it was _good _ice cream. Besides, if he ever wanted a day off, well, that's what Roxas was for.

No, the day had ended quite nicely all up. Zexion had found him very swiftly; incredibly enthusiastic over how well Demyx had done in the mission. Demyx had almost thought he was being sarcastic at first, but Zexion was smiling too happily for Demyx not to believe him. He had smiled even wider when Demyx had offered him his second Axel-given-ice cream. It totally counted as his 'thank you gift for Zexion's note' too, which was even better.

So here they were now, in Zexion's own little private library, enjoying the wonderful dessert and each other's company. He had to admit, it was quite a nice little library. Apparently it had been modelled after their old one at that Bollow Hastion place, but with The Castle That Never Was' white techno theme for the decor. It was quite comfortable as far as these places went, and Demyx quite liked the view they had from their seats on the second floor, looking out over the balcony at the mass of shelves below them.

"-and then you _whacked_ him with your _sitar!"_

Demyx suddenly zoned back into what Zexion had been saying. He hadn't been lost in thought, oh, no, not at all. Zexion was sitting on the arm rest of the second arm chair, smiling at him expectantly around his long tumble of hair. Demyx couldn't help but smile back.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it so much" Demyx chirped, trying not to sound overly happy but failing miserably. It was fair enough. He was good at recon, not deception. Demyx stretched his arms out to either side as a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Hey Zex, what was up with Xigbar?"

Zexion's legs dangled over the side of the chair as he swallowed his current mouthful of frosty goodness. "Xigbar? He was just sent in to slow you down. See," Zexion stabbed the air with his ice cream to emphasise his point, "Saïx was supposed to get ahead of you all, but you were too fast for him. Well, you and Axel." Zexion turned back to him smiling again. "You know, you really 'kicked ass' today Demyx."

It was all Demyx could do to not burst out in laughter. Zexion had said that so awkwardly that it was clear he had been practicing it beforehand. Demyx covered his mouth with a hand and tried to pass it off as a cough. It was far from convincing, even to Demyx. Zexion blushed slightly and turned back to his ice cream, yet his legs continued their happy swaying motions over the side of the chair. Thank goodness for that. Demyx would've kicked himself if he had offended Zexion trying so hard.

"Well in any case, you really did brilliantly. I've never seen you try so hard in battle," Zexion concluded.

"Oh! Yeah!" Demyx said, shoving his gloved hand into his coat pocket and pulling out the heavily crumpled black note he had found on his door this morning. He waved it at Zexion with a smile. "I meant to thank you for this thing. It was uh .." Just how did one say _I fought that hard because I knew you believed in me _without sounding like a complete idiot? "It was encouraging!" Yeah, that'd do.

Zexion simply smiled back. He was doing a lot of that today, Demyx noted. He wondered if Axel had drugged the ice cream. It would certainly explain why he had been so quick to hand it over. It was probably too late now anyway, Demyx thought as he took another bite. Besides, even if it was drugged, it was _far _too good to stop eating. It seemed a day in a desert would do that to you.

"So," Demyx said, pointing his ice cream at Zexion in a vague imitation of what he had done just before, "if Xigbar was just a distraction, why was he so happy after the debrief? I mean, he was _happy_, even for Xigbar."

Zexion took a moment to reply, nibbling on his ice cream in thought. "There was ... a bet, of sorts, on the outcome of the mission."

"Oh! So he bet on Axel winning?"

"... Not quite." Zexion moved on quickly. "I think Vexen bet on Larxene. He was looking pretty sour."

"Vexen _always _looks like that."

Zexion snorted into his ice cream. "I suppose you make a good point."

"Hm! Who'd you bet on Zex? Axel as well?"

Zexion blushed again and looked out over the balcony. Demyx decided to stop asking so many direct questions. He was enjoying these talks with Zexion far too much to scare him off like that. Not that Zexion was particularly shy at all; he just seemed to be blushing a lot tonight. Perhaps the ice cream really _was _drugged. Zexion spoke up, softly.

"I bet on you, Demyx."

Demyx grinned despite himself. The quickly frowned realising Zexion had lost.

"Oh! Zex, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, I mean, I wouldn't have lost if -" If what? He was fireproof?

"It's okay, Demyx." Zexion interrupted, smiling back at him once more. "I got this time with you, didn't I? The loss was a fair exchange."

This time it was Demyx's turn to blush. He didn't look away from Zexion though, and Zexion didn't drop his gaze either, still smiling. He looked pretty good smiling. Demyx blushed even more at the thought. How had he not noticed just how purple Zexion's eyes were before?

Demyx cleared his throat, trying to hide his epic blush by speaking a little lower. "So, uh, Zexion. Do you... like Waffles?"

Zexion's smile never wavered as he swung down off the side of his chair and sat himself on Demyx's arm rest, right next to his leg.

"Why? You got any?"

Demyx put on his best sly look and grinned up at Zexion. "I might do?"

"I thought you ate them all this morning?"

"Oh, no fair!" Demyx laughed. In a move that was half playful instinct and half secretly wanting Zexion to get closer he tugged on the shorter man's sleeve rather forcefully. Zexion fell against Demyx sideways, his shoulder colliding with Demyx's chest and knocking the air out of him with a jolt.

"Oh, hello Demyx." Zexion said, his voice laced with amusement.

"H-hi," he managed to cough out, still trying to get his breath back. He had the distinct impression that Zexion may have been chuckling.

After Demyx had managed to catch up with his breath he realised Zexion hadn't moved away at all and was still lying right there against Demyx. Demyx was almost afraid to move, just in case he accidentally spurred Zexion into getting back up. His fears were dispelled when Zexion pulled his legs over the side of the chair, shifting into a somewhat more comfortable position.

"You make a good pillow, Dem." He noted, his voice still sparking with good humoured amusement.

"Well, so do you!" Zexion turned his face up to Demyx, still smiling. If Xemnas had walked in just at that moment, Demyx was more than certain he could disprove his theory that Nobodies couldn't feel anything. Perhaps losing the tournament had turned out even better than he had originally thought. If it would bring more moments like these, Demyx wouldn't mind losing every tournament from this moment onward. Like Zexion had said, it was a fair trade.


End file.
